Published: Sunday, December 2, 2012 at 7:28 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, December 2, 2012 at 7:28 p.m.

DEBARY — The City Council largely took the air out of a packed council chambers last month when — surprise — it introduced an ordinance that would allow backyard chickens.

An attorney who had come to battle that night for his clients, the Hart family, along with more than 100 supporters, were largely silenced by the change in course. Mark Nation, the lawyer, called it "a complete victory."

But the devil is in the details, and the Harts — fighting to keep chickens in their yard on West Highbanks Road in order to provide therapy for their 2-year-old autistic son — still have issues with the ordinance in its current form.

DeBary's ordinance would allow, as a one-year pilot project, families to keep up to three chickens in residentially zoned homes with backyard coops. Chicken owners would have to obtain a city permit.

"We have six," said Ashleigh Hart, mother of the autistic boy.

Nation has written the City Council asking the number of chickens per household be raised to 10.

Ashleigh Hart said the chickens make J.J. feel more comfortable with verbalizing, and he's learning new words. She wrote some examples in recent Facebook posts for her more than 1,200 followers.

On Nov. 12, she posted this: "JJ FINALLY calls me 'Ma Ma.' He started on Friday I have waited 2 years and 7 1/2 months for that!"

Two days later, she wrote that J.J. was walking through the parking lot of his day-care center, where it had rained. "There were puddles ... and J.J. kept pointing and yelling AWA! AWA! I kept saying, 'Water?' Then I realized awa (means) aqua."

She said the school has been teaching the children the Spanish word for water.

The Hart family, their attorney and their physician are convinced J.J.'s progress is, in part, due to his attachment to the backyard chickens.

Progress has come despite the most shocking development in the story, the discovery on Oct. 13 that four of the chickens, including J.J.'s favorite, had been beheaded in the backyard. The Volusia County Sheriff's Office has an open but inactive investigation into the matter, and the family disputes a deputy's assessment that the chickens were killed by an animal.

That news followed the original matter that brought the family and the chickens into the limelight: a code enforcement case. Earlier that month, the code enforcement board determined the Harts were guilty of violating the city law banning chickens.

They were given a 60-day window to make their case, and Nation expressed a concern at the Nov. 7 meeting that the ordinance by itself might not make that case go away.

City Manager Dan Parrott would only say last week that any changes to the ordinance are up to the council.

Councilman Dan Hunt said one interpretation could be that the ordinance does fix the Harts' violation, in that it now makes chickens legal, and does so within the 60-day window they had. But he was not certain if that's the stance the city will take.

Neither was Councilman Nick Koval, who said the only thing that's certain is that the Harts were found guilty of violating the earlier ordinance.

Koval said he has done a lot of research on the backyard chickens issue, and believes the ordinance as proposed — allowing just three chickens per family — is appropriate.

"Ten chickens for therapeutic purposes seems to me a little bit outrageous," Koval said. "The City Council did a good job (with the ordinance). I believe it's fair."

While more than 400 DeBary residents have signed petitions presented by Nation to the city saying they support the Harts' right to keep the chickens, Koval said he has heard from other DeBary citizens opposed to chickens.

Hunt, though, said he would like to hear more discussion about the number of backyard chickens that would be appropriate in DeBary.

"I'm not married to having just three (chickens)," he said. "I don't like 10. That's a little too high, but I'm not planning to shut myself out of that discussion."

Hunt said he is looking for a compromise that is fair to all parties involved, particularly for the other residents of the city.

<p>DEBARY &mdash; The City Council largely took the air out of a packed council chambers last month when &mdash; surprise &mdash; it introduced an ordinance that would allow backyard chickens.</p><p>An attorney who had come to battle that night for his clients, the Hart family, along with more than 100 supporters, were largely silenced by the change in course. Mark Nation, the lawyer, called it "a complete victory."</p><p>But the devil is in the details, and the Harts &mdash; fighting to keep chickens in their yard on West Highbanks Road in order to provide therapy for their 2-year-old autistic son &mdash; still have issues with the ordinance in its current form.</p><p>DeBary's ordinance would allow, as a one-year pilot project, families to keep up to three chickens in residentially zoned homes with backyard coops. Chicken owners would have to obtain a city permit.</p><p>"We have six," said Ashleigh Hart, mother of the autistic boy.</p><p>Nation has written the City Council asking the number of chickens per household be raised to 10.</p><p>Ashleigh Hart said the chickens make J.J. feel more comfortable with verbalizing, and he's learning new words. She wrote some examples in recent Facebook posts for her more than 1,200 followers.</p><p>On Nov. 12, she posted this: "JJ FINALLY calls me 'Ma Ma.' He started on Friday I have waited 2 years and 7 1/2 months for that!"</p><p>Two days later, she wrote that J.J. was walking through the parking lot of his day-care center, where it had rained. "There were puddles ... and J.J. kept pointing and yelling AWA! AWA! I kept saying, 'Water?' Then I realized awa (means) aqua."</p><p>She said the school has been teaching the children the Spanish word for water.</p><p>The Hart family, their attorney and their physician are convinced J.J.'s progress is, in part, due to his attachment to the backyard chickens.</p><p>Progress has come despite the most shocking development in the story, the discovery on Oct. 13 that four of the chickens, including J.J.'s favorite, had been beheaded in the backyard. The Volusia County Sheriff's Office has an open but inactive investigation into the matter, and the family disputes a deputy's assessment that the chickens were killed by an animal. </p><p>That news followed the original matter that brought the family and the chickens into the limelight: a code enforcement case. Earlier that month, the code enforcement board determined the Harts were guilty of violating the city law banning chickens.</p><p>They were given a 60-day window to make their case, and Nation expressed a concern at the Nov. 7 meeting that the ordinance by itself might not make that case go away.</p><p>City Manager Dan Parrott would only say last week that any changes to the ordinance are up to the council.</p><p>Councilman Dan Hunt said one interpretation could be that the ordinance does fix the Harts' violation, in that it now makes chickens legal, and does so within the 60-day window they had. But he was not certain if that's the stance the city will take.</p><p>Neither was Councilman Nick Koval, who said the only thing that's certain is that the Harts were found guilty of violating the earlier ordinance.</p><p>Koval said he has done a lot of research on the backyard chickens issue, and believes the ordinance as proposed &mdash; allowing just three chickens per family &mdash; is appropriate.</p><p>"Ten chickens for therapeutic purposes seems to me a little bit outrageous," Koval said. "The City Council did a good job (with the ordinance). I believe it's fair."</p><p>While more than 400 DeBary residents have signed petitions presented by Nation to the city saying they support the Harts' right to keep the chickens, Koval said he has heard from other DeBary citizens opposed to chickens.</p><p>Hunt, though, said he would like to hear more discussion about the number of backyard chickens that would be appropriate in DeBary.</p><p>"I'm not married to having just three (chickens)," he said. "I don't like 10. That's a little too high, but I'm not planning to shut myself out of that discussion."</p><p>Hunt said he is looking for a compromise that is fair to all parties involved, particularly for the other residents of the city.</p>